Brenda Strong

Brenda Strong, actress and yoga instructor, is best known for her role as Mary Alice Young on the ABC television comedy-drama series Desperate Housewives, for which she was nominated for two Emmy Awards. She also is known for the roles of Sally Sasser on the ABC comedy-drama Sports Night and Ann Ewing on the TNT drama series Dallas.

Her first break after college and after winning Miss Arizona was a spot in Billy Crystal’s 1984 music video "You Look Marvelous." Her first television appearances came in 1985 with brief stints on St. Elsewhere, MacGyver and Cheers. She also made guest appearances on Matlock, Murphy Brown, Herman's Head, Star Trek: The Next Generation and Blossom, and she had a brief role on the cult favorite Twin Peaks.

By the mid-1990s she was a regular guest player on dozens of series, with prominent recurring roles on 3rd Rock from the Sun and Party of Five. Strong also appeared on ER, Picket Fences, Silk Stalkings and Dawson's Creek. She played Captain Deladier in the 1997 science fiction movie Starship Troopers. One of Strong's most prominent roles during the 1990s was a recurring stint as Elaine’s nemesis Sue Ellen Mischke, the “bra-less wonder” and "Oh Henry!" candy bar heiress, on several episodes of Seinfeld.

Her narrations on Desperate Housewives yielded an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 2011 and 2012.

In 2012, Strong began starring as Ann Ryland Ewing on the TNT original drama series Dallas. The series is a continuation of the original series of the same name that aired on CBS from 1978 to 1991.

A certified yoga instructor and fertility expert, Strong has experience teaching at UCLA's Mind/Body Institute. She is working on a book about yoga and the woman's journey.